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Saint Elisa
from the Prosperity.Image of astronaut Tracy C. Dyson aboard the International Space Station. }} Elisabeth Rose Murfin'''Named in honor of several people I've known and respected., also called '''Saint Elisa of the ''Prosperity'' and often referred to by spacers as Bloody Elisa, was copilot of a transport ship called the Prosperity chartered to move materials and people between the newly-colonized and Earth. She sacrificed herself to save her ship and its passengers when the ship nearly broke apart during a return voyage, her body lost in space. Elisa's actions were highly publicized and made her a folk saint among both civilian and military pilots, often known as the "Patron Saint of Vacuum", her legend surviving through the 26th Century and beyond. Biography Born April 11th, 2074, Elisa was fascinated by space travel in the days before cryo-pods and artificial gravity, and post-secondary school joined the crew of a commercial freighter running between Earth and Mars, learning from the more experienced spacers. She proved an adept learner, and was considered a full member of the crew even before the end of the return journey months later. While she remained with the company for several years, Elisa continued to want the freedom of her own ship. Although the freighter's captain was reluctant to lose her, in 2096 he recommended a friend who was an independent pilot taking contracts from colonies in the Jovian Moons, and Elisa soon joined the Prosperity as their copilot. On March 14th, 2100, the Prosperity accepted a contract from the governor of to take a delegation to Earth to lobby in support of more aid for the colonies, conflicts that would one day spark the . Several weeks in, an oversight by the refueling and repair crew of Io's docks caused one of the engines to catch fire, threatening to make the whole ship explode. Elisa was first to the problem, and quickly realized that even if the fire subsided, the damage it had caused would strain the ship too much and snap it in half. Without time for a better plan, Elisa came up with a solution for both problems: by breaching the hull and suddenly creating a vacuum, the strain to the ship would balance, and the fires would extinguish without oxygen. However, because she had to manually start the blast, it would mean sacrificing herself. Her last words were recorded over the ship's COM before she blew open the hull, the explosive decompression pulling her into airless space. With so much of its fuel wasted, the Prosperity sent out an SOS and was assisted by a vessel, though the body of Elisa Murfin was never found. The story was reported by major news corporations, and people were soon calling her a saint. It became common for spacers setting out on voyages to pray for her to whichever deities they believed in, and popular depictions of explosive decompression soon gave rise to calling her "Bloody Eliza" as an oath. , page 259. Her status as a folk hero/saint has led her to be compared to Casey Jones, an American folk hero famous for similar actions.The article was largely inspired by the story of this engineer. Notes and References Category:Civilians